The Spirits
by TatraMegami
Summary: Shawn's not psychic, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't see things that most people don't. Shawn isn't a Psychic, but then, he doesn't have to be one to know that he is in trouble.
1. Prologue

A/N: Okay, so this fic just came out of nowhere. The lines popped into my mind and I wrote them down. I think there might be a plot here somewhere, especially with how I left off at the end, but I might have to find it first. Wish me luck!

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The Spirits

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The Spirits worked in mysterious ways. That's right, Spirits; contrary to popular belief, he really did see spirits. Of course, that didn't mean that he was psychic, so he was still lying to the police department, but he was also kind of lying to his family at the same time. His dad and Gus had no idea about the Spirits; they just believed that he was making the whole thing up.

The Spirits weren't the ones to solve his cases, though. Oh, sure, they would help out from time to time when it suited them, but he mostly solved his cases on his own. Yes, he saw and communicated with the Spirits, and they did reveal the missing piece at the opportune moment, but he still had the mind that could piece mysteries together to find the solution. They also got bored of his crime solving abilities at time.

Spirits were very fickle creatures, even the ones that used to be human. Ghosts and those who had passed on from the earthly plane were sometimes more helpful, more knowledgeable as to what being a human was like, but they weren't as much help as one would think. Ghosts didn't know all, which meant that sometimes they had no idea who their killers were, and while the human spirits knew more, they rarely told him what it was they knew. Most of the time they were just annoying people that he had to pretend not to see.

As for the Spirits that were never human to begin with; those were the worst. Yes, they knew more than any human spirit, but they also really didn't care about the information that they possessed. They had their own worlds, though they loved to toy with the human world whenever they were bored. They played with him sometimes, since he was one of the rare humans that could see the Spirits.

Seeing things that normal people didn't see made a person seem very odd. It made the person shy away from empty spaces and react to things that didn't appear to be there. And then there were all the tricks a Spirit would pull. "_No, Dad, I did do the art project; it just got torn up because the Spirits thought it was fun." "I don't really want to go to the party because the Spirits want to play games today, plus the new neighbors are strange…" "I told the cops that I was psychic because the Spirits were bored and now we're solving a case!" _Yes, that really was normal behavior in a human being and people really would believe the excuse about Spirits.

No, everyone thought that he was still living in his childhood and that was the reason that he behaved so oddly. No one ever thought that Spirits actually existed, even if they did allow him to claim to be psychic. And those who did believe that he was psychic still thought that his behavior was strange and they wondered if it was really necessary for him to flail around when he had a 'vision.'

The Spirits used unusual methods to communicate with him. Glowing beings, strange creatures, random objects on the street, even comments from other people that just _sound _like what a spirit would say. Sometimes he even received actual visions and, yes, the dancing was an integral part in those visions. Having visions always made him feel like he was in an episode of Eli Stone, however, and he did get his brain checked for aneurisms after watching that show.

The dancing outside of the visions: the flailing that he almost always did while parting with information, that also had a purpose. First, it was just fun to do and, second, it kept the Spirits interested in what he was doing. He didn't need the Spirits to solve the cases and he really didn't need the trouble that they caused, but what could he say? He had gotten used to the way that he lived his life; he had settled down and the Spirits were a part of that life. Yes, they made him look like an idiot, but he could do that with or without the Spirits and they were useful at times.

Like, he was sure that the one fire Spirit, that was kind of making him nervous, could help him out right now. He could slip through the door and scout out the area outside of the room that he and Lassie were locked in, or he could start off a distraction that would allow him and Lassie to sneak away. Yes, that fire Spirit could do a lot of things that could help him out; Shawn just hoped that the Spirit helped them out before the fire started…


	2. Chapter 1 Burn, Baby, Burn

A/N: This was actually finished a while ago, but it's taken me this long to get around to editing it. But now I have and I'm now posting it. Can't promise when I'll update it again, though! So, enjoy!

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Chapter 1 – Burn, Baby, Burn

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It was the Spirits' fault that he was in this mess, although some of the blame could be placed on his own actions. Still, he liked to blame the Spirits for almost everything, as it usually was their faults in one way or another. He had been minding his own business when the fire spirit first showed up. Lurking around the police station and spying on Lassie was his business after all; how else would he get his cases without doing so?

Lassie really hadn't been doing anything interesting from what Shawn could tell from his pressed up position against the wall. The lead detective was just doing paperwork, which was why it was quite the surprise to see Lassie exit the bathroom with a fire spirit following after him. There were a number of factors involved, but Shawn wasn't surprised when Lassie was called into the Chief's office soon afterwards. Shawn gave the detective one second before he followed after him.

While Shawn had mostly been spying on Lassie and Jules while talking to Buzz about latest episode of Ghost Hunters, he had paid attention to the goings on of the station. He had taken note of the two strangers the moment they entered the station, the demons attached to the two made it impossible to ignore them. His curiosity had been aroused when the two entered into the Chief's office, his Spidey senses were telling him that a big case was on the horizon, but Lassie had gotten up to use the bathroom and Buzz brought up a particularly interesting part of the show and Shawn had gotten distracted until the Chief called for Lassie.

Shawn entered the Chief's office seconds after Lassie, ignoring all of the disgruntled looks that everyone was giving him. "The Spirits were calling me, telling me that I need to be on this case."

"Really?" Chief Vick stressed, "And what are these spirits telling you about this case."

"I sense something about fire." Shawn raised his hand to his temple and wiggled his fingers. He sent a quick look over to the fire spirit, but it wasn't paying attention to him. He switched his gaze over to the two strangers who were staring at him in confusion. He had paid attention when they came in and now that he was actually standing in front of them, he could tell more about them. They didn't look like they were standard police, but their haircuts were too regulations for them to be anything but law enforcement – not to mention that they were in the Chief's office. That left a number of Alphabet Soup guys, but that coupled with the fire spirit could only mean one group. "These guys are ATF and they need our help on a case."

"How did you know?" one of the guys asked, staring at Shawn with wide eyes.

"I'm a psychic, it's what I do." Shawn struck a slight pose and sent the guy his charming smile.

Lassiter snorted in disgust. "That's all you got, Spencer?"

"Well, I do know that this isn't because of an ordinary house fire and these men came here specifically for you, Lassie." The first fact was obvious and the one about Lassie only slightly less so. AFT dealt with more dangerous things than just household fires and Chief Vick had called for Lassiter only, even though Juliet was in the bullpen at the time. There was also the fire spirit in the room, which communicated all of those things with just his presence. This was a strong spirit, which meant it got its strength from more than ordinary house fires and the fact that it was following Lassiter around meant that Lassie was going to be smack dab in the middle of things.

"You're absolutely right. We're dealing with a group of thieves that use bombs as both a distraction and a calling card when they are pulling off their heists. Detective Lassiter is the lead detective here in Santa Barbra and he is familiar with one of the thieves," the younger ATF agent said.

"What?" Lassiter asked, looking at the two agents in shock.

"It's really not that shocking, Lassie," Shawn counseled the man, "I mean, you memorize the World's Most Wanted list and so on."

"The man we're dealing with is Manuel Kinan, from what I can tell you arrested him once five years ago. It was a pretty big case," the Youngest ATF Agent informed them.

"Not one of my biggest, but still pretty high." Lassiter nodded in acknowledgement. "Kinan went to prison for quite a long time, why is he back out on the streets?"

"He got out on parole, but he slipped his parole officer's custody and headed back into his life of crime. He's pretty high in command in this group, which is why we want your input," the youngest ATF agent replied.

"Not to mention that they are planning a job here in Santa Barbra," the older ATF agent added.

"We'll take the case," Shawn said before Lassie could say anything. He grinned as the detective growled at him.

"I'll take the case, of course, Chief, but tell me that I don't have to work with Spencer," Lassiter came close to pleading.

"I won't tell you, Detective, but" Chief Vick continued before Lassiter could let loose a sigh of relief, "I'm afraid that it is up to Agents Wilbur August and Courtney Pinion as to whether or not Mr. Spencer is on the case."

"We'd be glad to have a psychic on our team," the youngest ATF agent said before anyone could say anything else.

"Great, what do you say we all go bond over smoothies? The Smoothie shop is trying a new blend, pineapples and blueberries." Shawn slung his arm around Lassie's shoulders. "I'm interested in what that tastes like, how about you?"

"Get off of me, Spencer, and shut up unless you have something relevant to add." Lassiter shrugged off Shawn's hold.

"I don't think that Pineapple and Strawberry really goes together, but I'm willing to give it a try next week," Shawn rambled on before Lassie could shut him up.

"Relevant to the case, Spencer," Lassiter ground out.

"Watch out for the fire," Shawn said, his eyes sliding over to where the fire spirit was staring out the window.

"I think I could have figured that out for myself." Lassiter gave Shawn one last glare before heading over to talk to the two agents.

Shawn kept half an ear on what they were talking about; glancing over the files that they were holding as he passed by, but he focused most of his attention on the fire spirit. The fire spirit didn't acknowledge Shawn, but he could sense that the fire spirit knew that he was there. Spirits always seemed to be aware of him, even when he carried garlic around to ward them off. Of course, they were Spirits and not vampires. Still, it was only when Gus refused to be within ten feet of him that Shawn stopped that attempt.

Shawn kept his body angled toward the window so that it looked like he was staring out of it, but his gaze was focused solely on the fire Spirit next to him.

"What are you here for?" Shawn muttered under his breath. The fire Spirit didn't answer, but he could swear that he could feel a sense of smugness radiating from the creature.


End file.
